


The Second Time Around

by Heavenly_Pearl



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (TV), Sailor Moon - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-09
Updated: 2011-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heavenly_Pearl/pseuds/Heavenly_Pearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two friends become family when love blossoms between their single parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taken By Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story is a short series of vignettes that I thought worked well together. Written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal (Theme: Announcement) and was the winner of Most Original for August 2007.

Flipping through the small assortment of dresses hanging in her closet, Rei sighed, wishing that she didn't have to go to her father's house for dinner. She could think of a thousand other ways she would rather spend her Friday night than making forced, uncomfortable small talk with Hino Takashi, but he claimed he had an important announcement to tell make, so she didn't have much choice in the matter.

At least she wouldn't be the only one there. The fact that Ami and her mother were also invited made the whole night seem like it may be bearable, if not exactly enjoyable, although Rei still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the idea of her father dating Dr. Mizuno Saeko.

The two of them had been seeing each other for about a year now, after coincidentally meeting each other at a benefit for the hospital where Dr. Mizuno worked. As they were both busy single parents with little time for their children - or in her father's case, none at all - neither had realized their daughters knew each other until they decided it was time for their families to meet. Rei could still remember the utter surprise she felt when the maitre d' led her to her father's table and she saw him sitting with Ami and her mother, a feeling she knew Ami had shared.

After the initial shock of it all wore off, Ami had accepted the fact that their parents were dating rather well, but acceptance had not come so easily to Rei. It wasn't that she didn't like Dr. Mizuno; the few times the four of them had gone out together, Rei had liked Ami's mother very much. However, as unreasonable as it was, Rei couldn't help but feel like her father was betraying her deceased mother by moving on with another woman, even though her mother had died well over ten years ago.

Rei wiped away a rogue tear that managed to roll down her cheek, scolding herself for the moment of weakness, then selected a basic black sheath to wear to dinner. Noticing the time, she quickly dressed, accessorizing the dress with a strand of her mother's pearls, then headed outside, where the car her father had sent was already waiting to drive her to the house.

The ride to the house was short and uneventful. As the car pulled up in front of her father's residence, Rei inhaled deeply, preparing herself for what was to come, whatever it was. The chauffeur started to get out of the car to open her door for her, but Rei motioned for him to stay put, opening her door herself and walking up to entrance of the house.

A maid Rei didn't recognized answered the door and took Rei's coat. She informed Rei that her father was waiting for her in the parlor before scurrying off.

Her father was the only one there, glancing up from his newspaper when Rei entered the room. Evidently, Dr. Mizuno and Ami were running late, which annoyed Rei. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to be alone with her father. Though their cold relationship had thawed somewhat since the day at the cemetery nearly three years ago when they had finally discussed her mother's death and the resentment Rei felt toward him over what she saw as his abandonment of his family in favor of his political career, she was far from being a daddy's girl.

"Rei, welcome," her father said, setting his paper aside and standing from his chair to greet her. He made no move to hug her or kiss her like other fathers might do, but he did give her a small smile. "I'm glad you could make it."

"You asked, so I came," Rei replied, plopping down on the couch. "Ami and Mizuno-sensei aren't here yet?"

Her father sat back down and shook his head. "I imagine Saeko was held up at the hospital. She and her daughter should be here soon. Would you like something to drink while we wait?"

Rei declined the offer, and the two of them sat in silence. As usual, neither had much to say to the other, but Rei supposed it was better than before, when all she had to say to him were insults and angry words. While they waited for Ami and her mother to arrive, Rei started to wonder exactly what kind of announcement her father planned to make, especially if he had invited Dr. Mizuno and Ami, too. Perhaps it had something to do with running for a Diet seat. Rei normally didn't pay much attention to politics, but she knew enough that her father was considered a front-runner for the empty seat in his district, despite not having formally thrown his hat in the ring yet.

She didn't get the chance to think about it for long, though. About ten minutes after Rei arrived, the doorbell rang again, and Ami and her mother joined them in the parlor, Dr. Mizuno apologizing profusely for their tardiness.

"Hi, Rei-chan. Do you mind if I sit down?" Ami asked, polite as always.

Rei rolled her eyes and patted the seat on the couch beside her. "Knock yourself out," she answered, frowning slightly as she caught a sight of her father chastely kissing Dr. Mizuno on the cheek. "You know, no matter how many times I see them together, it always weirds me out."

"It is a bit strange, I suppose," Ami agreed, "but my mother seems very happy with your father."

"Are you sure something's not wrong with her? Maybe she needs to have her head examined."

Ami shot her a look that said she did not appreciate the suggestion that her mother was mentally unstable, even if it was meant as a joke, but it was something Rei had wondered ever since she found out about the relationship. No, she didn't honestly think Dr. Mizuno was out of her mind for getting involved with her father, but she couldn't see the attraction. Her father was no prize bachelor. He was a middle-aged, workaholic politician, who rarely ever expressed emotion and who was about as funny as a piece of lint - certainly no Prince Charming.

Then again, Rei had little interest in love and romance, so maybe the whole thing was just beyond her comprehension.

"So, anyway," Rei said, changing the subject, "does your mother have any idea why my father asked us all here tonight? He didn't tell me anything at all."

"I think she does, but she hasn't told me anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Mama just seems…happy," Ami explained. "On the drive over here, she couldn't stop smiling. She had that look on her face that Usagi-chan always gets when she's thinking of Mamoru-san."

Rei wasn't sure why, but she didn't like the sound of that. "You don't think they're going to announce-"

However, before Rei could finish asking her question, the maid reappeared to announce that dinner was served. The four of them moved to the less formal dining room, her father and Dr. Mizuno sitting together on one side of the table, while she and Ami took the seats on the other side.

It was obvious that her father intended for tonight to be a very special night. The table had been beautifully set with a red silk tablecloth, a rose-filled centerpiece, a couple of candles, and his finest china. The lights were turned down low, giving the room a vague romantic atmosphere, and, as the maid brought out their dinner, Rei noticed the food was all things Dr. Mizuno had mentioned were her favorites on previous outings.

"Takashi, what a beautiful table," Dr. Mizuno complimented. "You didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"It was no problem at all," Rei's father said, giving his significant other a smile that Rei thought seemed out of place on his normally serious face. "Nanako-san did all of the preparation. I just wanted to make this a night to remember."

"Well, she did a wonderful job. You must thank her for me."

"I will."

It took all of Rei's willpower not to roll her eyes at the exchange. Seriously, who was this man sitting across from her, who went through so much trouble to impress a woman? She didn't remember him acting like this when her mother was still alive, a thought that turned her faint amusement to anger.

"Papa, why all this fuss?" Rei demanded to know, unable to keep quiet any longer. If what she suspected was going to happen was true, she didn't want to draw it out any longer. "What is this big announcement you have to make?"

Her father frowned. "Rei, we've only just begun dinner. We were hoping to wait until dessert to tell you and Ami-chan our big news."

"We?"

He glanced over at Dr. Mizuno, who smiled. "Takashi, if Rei-chan really wants to know, I don't see why we can't make the announcement now," she said. "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" he asked, and she nodded, setting down her fork to pull a thin gold chain out from underneath her blouse.

Hanging from the chain was a ring: a princess-cut solitaire diamond set in platinum.

Rei didn't have to ask what it meant.

Abruptly standing up from her chair, Rei ran out of the room.


	2. Father-Daughter Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal (Theme: Farce) and was the winner of Best Characterization for August 2007.

"Rei? Rei, you come back here!"

Sitting back down, Hino Takashi sighed. This was not how he wanted the evening to go. He hadn't expected Rei to exactly be happy about the news of his engagement, but he had hoped she would at least keep any objections to the marriage to herself until after Saeko and Ami had left, forgetting that his daughter was not a shining example of propriety.

"I'm sorry, Saeko," he apologized to his fiancée. "Please excuse my daughter's rudeness. I don't know what has gotten into her."

Saeko shook her head. "It's okay, Takashi. I'm sure Rei-chan is just in shock. We did kind of spring it on her."

"Hino-san, would you like me to talk to Rei-chan?" Saeko's normally quiet daughter Ami offered.

The offer was tempting, but Talasjo knew it was his responsibility as Rei's father to talk to her about her rude behavior. "Thank you, Ami-chan," he said, again rising from his chair, "but I think I should probably be the one to talk to her. If you ladies will excuse me…"

Takashi had not seen where Rei went after she ran out of the dining room, so he asked his maid if she knew where his daughter was. Nanako informed him she saw Rei run upstairs.

There was only one room upstairs he thought she might be hiding in, her old bedroom. Takashi headed up the staircase, but took his time about it, not exactly relishing the thought of having to lecture his daughter.

It was ironic in a way. Here he was, one of the most politically powerful men in Tokyo, yet when it came to his temperamental daughter, he was as meek as a mouse, afraid he would say something that would shatter what was left of their fragile relationship. It was only a few years ago that they had called a truce; Takashi did not want to risk losing Rei again.

When he finally made it to the door of Rei's bedroom, Takashi raised his hand to knock, but hesitated. The sound was faint, but it almost sounded as if Rei was…crying.

Had his engagement upset her that much?

Ryoji brought his hand back down, unsure of what to do. An angry Rei, he could handle, but he was never good when it came to dealing with tears. Thinking it might be better to send her friend Ami to talk to her after all, he started to leave, yet, in the end, he stayed and knocked on the door.

"Rei?" he said softly. "It's your father. We need to talk."

The sobbing stopped, and after what seemed like an eternity, Rei gave him permission to enter.

Hesitantly, Takashi turned the doorknob and stepped inside. There, he found his daughter laying horizontally across the small, twin-sized bed, a Hello Kitty pillow crushed against her chest as Rei stared blankly up at the ceiling. She had done her best to hide the evidence of her tears, but Takashi noticed the handkerchief she held tightly in one hand.

"Rei, what was the meaning of that scene downstairs?" he asked in a bit harsher tone than he intended.

"Did you honestly expect me to jump for joy over the fact you are getting remarried?" Rei retorted.

"No, but I had hoped you would accept our engagement with the proper decorum. How do you think Saeko felt when you ran out of the room without even a 'congratulations'?"

"Fine," Rei said, finally sitting back up and starting to stand. "I'll go apologize to Mizuno-sensei right now if that's what you want."

"No, wait." Motioning for her sit back down, Takashi inhaled deeply, then grabbed the nearby desk chair, rolling it toward the bed. "Yes, you will apologize to Saeko and her daughter for ruining dinner, but that can wait," he said, sitting down. "First, I think you and I need to have a talk."

Rei rolled her eyes. "What is there to talk about?"

"Evidently, quite a bit, Rei, if your behavior is any indication. Why are you so against the idea of me and Saeko getting married? I thought you liked her."

She shrugged. "I like her well enough, I suppose. I don't hate her, at least."

"Then why?"

For a long moment, Rei didn't answer him. She then stood up and walked over to the desk, where she picked up a picture frame and handed it to him.

The picture inside was of Rei and her mother.

"I don't understand," Takashi said, placing the picture facedown on the bed beside Rei. Even after all the years that had passed, it still pained him to look at one of Risa's pictures. "Your mother has been gone for over ten years now, Rei."

"Yet you are making a mockery of her memory!" Rei declared, her dark eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"Please!" Getting up from the bed once again, Rei began pacing the room, arms crossed over her chest. "You never acted like this when Mama was alive, all romantic and happy and lovey-dovey. So why does Mizuno-sensei get to see that side of you? Do you love her more than you did Mama? Did you even love Mama at all, or was your marriage just a sham to make you look better to voters? The devoted family man? Ha, what a joke!"

"Rei, that is quite enough," Takashi said in a calm, but firm, voice, trying his best not to lose his temper, though his daughter was not exactly making it easy. "Sit back down, and let's discuss this like rational adults."

"There's nothing to discuss, Papa," said Rei. "All you are going to tell me is lies, anyway. That's what you politicians do, isn't it?"

Despite his attempts to control his temper, Takashi's hand involuntarily clenched in a fist. "Sit down. Now."

With an exasperated sigh, Rei plopped back down on the bed, and Takashi relaxed his fist, taking in a deep breath to calm himself down. When he felt he could speak without wanting to yell, he rolled the desk chair he was sitting on closer to the bed, hesitantly placing one of his hands over Rei's. To his amazement, she didn't pull it away, though there was still a fierce look in her eyes that reminded him of Risa.

"You truly are your mother's daughter," he said with a small smile, Rei's eyes widening in shock. "Risa was the most passionate woman I ever knew. She was never one to bottle up her feelings. If she was mad at you, you can be sure as hell you knew it, yet she also possessed great love and compassion. That was the thing I loved most about your mother, and, yes, I did love Risa, more than you can ever know. The fact that I was not there more for her when she was alive is one of the biggest regrets of my life.

"However," he continued before Rei could interject, "your mother is gone now, and I have met a wonderful woman with whom I would like to spend the rest of my life. It doesn't mean I love Risa any less, and Saeko will never be able to replace your mother in our hearts, but she makes me happier than I have been in a very long time, Rei. Maybe I don't deserve such happiness after the way I treated you and your mother. I don't know. But I do know that I love Saeko very much, and nothing would make me happier than for us - for me, you, Saeko, and Ami-chan - to be a family. For all of us to live here in this house, together."

"You want me to move back home?" Rei asked.

Takashi sighed. "I should have asked you to come back a long time ago," he admitted. "I just didn't know if you would if I asked. You were so angry with me…"

His voice drifted off, and the hard look in Rei's eyes softened. For a long moment, they sat there, silent, neither knowing quite what to say. Then Takashi felt his daughter lightly squeeze his hand, a small smile on her lips.

"Let's be a family, Papa," she said

Somewhere, up in heaven, Takashi knew Risa was smiling down on them.


	3. Stuck Zippers and Cold Feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal (Theme: Crisis) and was the winner of Best Dialogue for August 2007.

Her mother was getting married again.

It still hadn't quite sunk in for Ami, even as she dressed for the wedding. She was happy for her mother, of course, and she loved the idea of having Rei for a stepsister, but it would definitely be a big adjustment, for all of them.

The biggest adjustment of all was the fact that she and her mother were now living in Mr. Hino's rather large mansion instead of the apartment where Ami had spent the vast majority of her life. Even with most of her books unpacked and her new, state-of-the-art computer - a gift from her almost-stepfather - set up and running, it still didn't feel quite like home yet - more like a beautiful, impersonal hotel room that she would soon be checking out of. Though Mr. Hino had offered to hire an interior designer to redecorate it more to her liking, Ami had declined, uncomfortable with the idea of accepting such an extravagant gift from her mother's fiancé. It had only been because of her mother's insistence that Ami even let him buy her the new computer.

Ami just wished Mr. Hino didn't feel the need to shower her with presents in order for her to like him; she already did, despite everything Rei had told her about him. Ami could tell he really wanted to make up for his past mistakes, something that Rei must have sensed as well, since she had also decided to move back in with her father after years of serving at the Hikawa shrine.

"Ami-chan, will you help me with this stupid dress?" Rei called out, banging on Ami's bedroom door and interrupting Ami from her thoughts. "I've got a major crisis on my hands!"

Ami walked over and opened the door, letting her future stepsister in. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?" she asked.

Rei turned around. Her dress, an elegant red gown, was only half-way zipped up. "This," she spat out like a swear. "The zipper's caught on something, and I can't get the damn thing loose."

"Here, let me try."

Coming up behind Rei, Ami tugged on the zipper. It didn't move, meaning it was definitely stuck on something. On closer inspection, she saw a bit of red fabric caught between the teeth.

"It's caught on some fabric," Ami informed Rei as she tried to pry the fabric loose without tearing it.

Though she couldn't see Rei's face, Ami knew Rei well enough to know she was undoubtedly rolling her eyes. "I could have told you that, genius," she said, a slight teasing tone to her voice behind her sarcasm. "Can you get it unstuck?"

"I think so…"

After fiddling with the zipper for about a minute or so, Ami finally managed to fix it, zipping the rest of the dress up so Rei wouldn't have to do it herself and risk it getting stuck again. Rei turned back around and gave Ami a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Ami-chan. You're a life-saver."

Ami blushed. "It was no problem. After all, what else are stepsisters for?"

"Stepsisters… Yeah, that still sounds weird," Rei said, sitting down on Ami's neatly-made bed as Ami took a seat at her vanity and began brushing the sides of her hair up into her usual pulled-back style. "I can't believe in less two hours, we're going to be family."

"Y-You don't want us to be stepsisters?" Ami asked, setting her brush back down on the table and letting her hair fall free again. She had thought Rei was as happy as she was about them becoming a family. After all, Ami already considered Rei and the others as her honorary sisters, so she assumed Rei felt the same way.

Rei shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that," she assured Ami. "It's just…strange, you know? It's been a long time since I've felt a part of a real family, and I've never had a sister before. It'll take some time to get used to, that's all, but if I have to have a stepsister, I'm glad it's you." Glancing over at Ami's alarm clock, Rei stood back up. "Oh, I have to go. Papa wants to get to the chapel early."

Rei was acting as her father's "best woman," in lieu of the traditional best man. It had actually been Ami's mother's idea for Ami and Rei to stand up for their respective parents at the wedding, feeling it would make the ceremony feel more like a joining of families instead of just a joining of a man and a woman.

"Okay, I'll see you later, then," Ami said as Rei headed to the door, almost running straight into Ami's mother, who had been standing right outside the room, her arm raised as if about to knock.

"Oh, Rei-chan, there you are," Ami's mother said, smiling. "You look beautiful. Are you ready to go? Your father is waiting downstairs for you."

"Actually, I was just on my way downstairs to look for him myself," Rei admitted. "I better get down there. Papa hates being late for anything."

Ami's mother chuckled. "Don't I know it. I guess I'll see you two at the altar."

"Yeah, good luck, or whatever it is you're supposed to say," Rei said, exiting the room.

After Rei left, Ami's mother closed the door and came up behind Ami, reaching for the brush she had set down on the vanity. "You look beautiful as well, Ami," her mother said as she started brushing Ami's hair. "Just like a princess."

Ami blushed, looking down at her hands. "Isn't the maid of honor supposed to help you get ready, not the other way around?" she asked, despite the fact that her mother had already finished getting dressed. Her mother looked stunning in a simple knee-length ivory dress with matching bolero jacket, her dark hair pulled up in an elegant French twist and her glasses switched with contacts for the day.

"Oh, you know I've never been much for traditions. Besides, I remember how much you used to love it when I did your hair when you were younger. Remember?"

Nodding, Ami smiled, thinking back to when she was a little girl and her mother would braid her hair into pigtails before school. Since her mother was often busy with work at the hospital, they never spent much quality time together, but, whenever she could, her mother always tried to find time to fix Ami's hair in the morning. Those times were some of Ami's fondest childhood memories.

Instead of pulling the sides up like Ami originally planned, her mother began French braiding her hair, her nimble surgeon's fingers moving with the speed of an experienced hairstylist. When she got to the end, she fastened the braid with a dark blue ribbon that matched the shade of Ami's dress perfectly and spritzed Ami's hair with a little bit of hairspray so that it would stay put. "There. Gorgeous."

"Thanks, Mama," Ami said, turning around in her chair to face her mother, "but you're the one who looks the most beautiful today. I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before."

It was true. From the moment her mother had entered her room, she hadn't stopped smiling. Her mother had an aura of happiness around her, one that was bright enough that Ami didn't even need Rei's heightened powers of perception to be able to see it.

"I am happy," her mother said. "I have to admit, after your father left us, I never thought I would ever fall in love again, but Takashi changed all that. He's really a wonderful man, Ami."

"I'm glad you think so, Mama."

"What about you, though?"

"What do you mean?" Ami asked as she turned back around to face the mirror, reaching for a tube of lip-gloss.

"Well…" Taking a seat on Ami's bed, her mother sighed. "I know this must all be a big adjustment for you: a new stepfather, stepsister, moving in here… I'm just afraid I didn't take your feelings into consideration when I accepted Takashi's proposal."

"Mama, I want you to be happy," Ami insisted, joining her mother on the bed after putting on her lip-gloss.

"I know, but are you happy?"

"Of course I am. Rei-chan is one of my best friends, and I like Hino-san. He's been good for you."

"Are you sure?"

Ami frowned, wondering why her mother was bringing this all up now, on the day of the wedding. It wasn't like her to second-guess her decisions. "Mama, you aren't getting cold feet are you?"

"No, of course not. Well, maybe a little," she admitted, smoothing down the fabric of her dress, a nervous habit Ami recognized. "I suppose I'm a bit gun-shy after what happened with your father. I really want this marriage to work out this time, Ami. I can't go through another divorce."

"It will," Ami assured her, reaching for her mother's hand. "Things will be different this time."

"How can you know that for sure, though?"

Ami shook her head. "I can't, really, but I think if you really love Hino-san, then everything will be okay in the end. After all, as you've always told me, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.' Right?"

Squeezing Ami's hand, her mother's smile returned. "When did my little girl become so mature?" she said, standing back up and pulling Ami up with her to give her a hug. "Thank you, Ami. That's just what I needed to hear."

"Be happy, Mama," Ami whispered in her mother's ear, hugging her back.

"I will."


	4. For Better Or Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal (Theme: Wedding).

This was it.

Outside the doors leading to the small wedding chapel where her fiancé was waiting for her, Dr. Mizuno Saeko inhaled deeply to calm her pounding heartbeat. As a successful heart surgeon, she had to deal with stressful situations all the time in the operating room, but not a single surgery she had performed came close to triggering the amount of nervousness she felt at that moment. She knew what to do in the operating room; it was second nature to her, almost like breathing. Success in marriage, on the other hand, was not something that came so easily to her.

Even after her heart-to-heart talk with Ami, which had settled her nerves somewhat, Saeko couldn't completely ignore the doubts swimming around in her head. She loved Takashi and was very fond of his daughter Rei, who was one of Ami's best friends, but she knew from painful experience that love was not always enough to sustain a happy marriage.

After all, she and Ami's father Yoshi had been madly in love, once upon a time. Back then, they had been college sweethearts: she, an ambitious pre-med major with dreams of saving the world, one surgery at a time, and he, the handsome, dreamy art student who stole her heart when he asked her to model for him. The two of them were as different as night and day, yet Saeko had found his relaxed attitude towards life refreshing, something that would ground her when she got too caught up in her work.

Ironically, though, what had attracted her to Yoshi in the first place turned into the very thing that led to their downfall. After they married and Saeko got pregnant with Ami, she thought Yoshi would finally grow-up and become more responsible. She had only been an intern at the time, so Saeko had really needed him to step up to the plate. To his credit, Yoshi tried. He really tried. Despite the fact that he hated it, he got a job teaching art at a local school, and, while Saeko was working late nights at the hospital, he took care of Ami, leaving him little time to focus on his art. However, as time passed by, Yoshi became more and more resentful of the time Saeko spent away from him and their daughter, leaving him with most of the responsibility of raising Ami. He quit his teaching job once Saeko started making enough money to support them, but even that did little to help the situation, since his own art career never really took off, another point of contention between them.

When he finally left them a couple of months after Ami's fifth birthday, it didn't come as much of a surprise to Saeko. She knew he had been unhappy in the marriage for a long time and blamed herself for focusing more on her career than her family. For a long time, she wondered if things would have been different had she chosen a less demanding specialty, like gynecology or pediatrics. However, in her heart, Saeko knew she had made the right choice, even if she had lost her husband in the process of pursuing her dream. She never would have been happy settling for less for the sole purpose of keeping a man.

Which was part of the reason why she fell in love with Takashi. As a member of the Assembly, he understood the importance of a person's career. He was just as ambitious and just as much of a workaholic as she was, and they supported each other all the way. Not only that, he could empathize with her guilt over putting her career over her family, as he had done the same for many years, even going as far as to send his daughter to live at the Hikawa Shrine after her mother's death because he felt he was too busy to properly raise her. They had a lot to make up for when it came to Ami and Rei, but they were both determined that this time would be different, that they would do things right when it came to their family without completely sacrificing their careers in the process.

But could they? It was one thing to promise to change; it was another thing to actually do it. What would happen if Takashi was elected Prime Minister, or she was named chief of surgery? Would they be able to keep their promise, or would their ambition get the best of them yet again?

"Mama, are you feeling all right?" Ami asked, breaking Saeko from her thoughts. "You look a little pale."

"Oh, Ami." Saeko took in another deep breath, then smiled at her daughter. "Your mama is fine. I'm just nervous about the ceremony, that's all. I'm afraid I might trip walking down the aisle or mess up my vows or something like that."

Ami giggled. "I'm sure that won't happen, Mama."

"I hope you're right."

Just then, the music for the processional started up, meaning the ceremony was about to begin. Ami handed Saeko her bouquet of red roses as the doors to the chapel opened, then began her trek down the aisle to the altar where Takashi and Rei were already standing.

The number of guests at the wedding was relatively small. As it was the second wedding for both of them and neither had much family, neither Saeko or Takashi had wanted to make a big spectacle of things. Other than a few distant relatives and some close colleagues from work, the only other guests invited were a group of Ami's and Rei's friends - one whom Saeko vaguely recognized as the famous idol Aino Minako - who were all sitting together in one of the middle pews, smiling as Ami passed by.

When Ami finally made it to the altar and took her place opposite of Takashi and Rei, the music changed to the traditional wedding march and all the guests stood up. For one horrifying moment, Saeko felt as if she was frozen in place, her body refusing to obey the commands her brain was sending it. However, when she looked toward the front of the room and saw Takashi standing at the altar, an awkward smile on his usual serious face, it was as if all her fears instantly melted away.

She was doing the right thing. How could she have ever doubted herself?

Feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, Saeko confidently stepped forward.

For better, or for worse, Hino Takashi was the man she intended to spend the rest of her life with, until death do they part.


End file.
